Welcome to the “Harper’s Index” of teenage myths!
(Deemed unsuitable for reprinting in publications Left to Right) updated 12/28/01
1. WHO ARE THE REAL DRUGGIES?
Number of US deaths involving abuse of heroin in 1999: 4,801.
Number which were teenagers: 33.
Number over age 35: 3,389.
Number of US deaths involving cocaine (including “crack”) in 1999: 4,842.
Number which were teenagers: 21.
Number over age 35: 3,393.
Total drug abuse deaths, including overdoses, suicides, and accidents, among US teenagers ages 12-19 in 1999: 326.
Number among adults ages 35-54: 7,114 (source: Drug Abuse Warning Network).
Number of deaths in 1999 from abuse of drugs (accident, suicide, undetermined) reported by DAWN, and percent which were teens:
Heroin, 4,801: (six-tenths of 1% were teens)
Cocaine (including crack): 4,882 (one-half of 1% were teens)
Alcohol mixed with drugs: 3,897 (one-third of 1% were teens)
Methamphetamine (speed): 688 (1% were teens)
Valium (Diazepam): 808 (one-half of 1% were teens)
Benadryl (OTC allergy supressant): 756 (1% were teens)
Tylenol: 426 (one-half of 1% were teens)
Prozac (Fluoxetine): 305 (1% were teens)
Aspirin: 104 (3% were teens)
Ecstasy (MDMA) and GHB (club drugs): 14 (none were teens)
Total: 29,009 drug mentions, 11,613 deaths (1% were teens)
1980: Number of drug-related casualties before “War on Drugs” began:
Overdose deaths
Among teens: 260
Among adults: 6,600
Drug-related hospital emergency cases:
Among teens: 45,118
Among adults: 270,506
Drug-related murders: 407
Arrests for drug law violations:
Among teens: 205,000
Among adults: 375,000
1998: Number of drug-related casualties after 10+ years of the “War on Drugs:”
Overdose deaths
Among teens: 300
Among adults: 15,000
Drug-related hospital emergency cases (1999)
Among teens: 53,300
Among adults: 501,600
Drug-related murders: 891
Arrests for drug law violations
Among teens: 412,000
Among adults: 944,000
Percent of all hospital emergency cases for heroin and cocaine which involved teenagers in:
1980: 2.5%
1985: 2.0%
1990: 1.8%
2000: 2.0%
Percent of commitments to drug abuse treatment for heroin abuse in 1999 who were under age 20: 3.2 (8,265 of 257,177 total).
Percent of all hospital emergency treatments for Oxycontin (oxycodone) abuse in 2000:
4.2 (454 of 10,820).
Percent who were 35 and older: 61%
Percent of all hospital emergency cases for marijuana which involved teenagers in:
1980: 25.0%
1985: 24.0%
1990: 13.8%
2000: 16.3%
Ratio of arrests for illegal drugs to deaths from abusing drugs for black, Hispanic, or Asian teenagers in California in 1998: 18 to 1.
Ratio for white (non-Hispanic) teenagers: 7 to 1.
Ratio for white (non-Hispanic) adults ages 30 and older: 1 to 3.
Percentage of illegal-drug deaths involving white (non-Hispanic) adults: 65%.
Percentage of drug arrests: 28%.
Percent of all marijuana users and percent of all persons arrested for possession of marijuana who were under age 18:
1990: 9% of users, 12% of those arrested.
1995: 11% of users, 33% of those arrested.
Number of emergency hospital treatments in the last three years CNN (4/19/00) reported involved abuse of the designer and dance-party drug Ecstasy: 1,100
Number of emergency hospital treatments in the last three years involving abuse of Tylenol (a major sponsor of CNN’s report on Ecstasy): 45,000.
Of 25,717 students ages 12-17 surveyed in the National Household Survey in 2000, number who said that at least once in the previous year, they used:
Heroin: 50 (0.2%).
Cocaine: 440 (1.7%)
Marijuana: 3,450 (13.4%).
Any illegal drug: 4,780 (18.6%)
Cigarettes: 5,350 (20.8%)
Alcohol: 8,490 (33.0%).
Of 12,800 high school seniors surveyed by Monitoring the Future (University of Michigan Institute for Social Research) in 2001, number who said they used heroin in the previous year: 115 (nine-tenths of 1%).
In the previous month: 50 (four-tenths of 1%)
Percent who used Ecstasy at least once: 11.7%
Percent who took Ecstasy in the previous month: 2.8%
Number of 17 year-old drivers in fatal drunken driving accidents in 2000: 155.
Number of 40 year-olds: 203.
Number of teenage girls, total (all age 15-19): 147.
Number of 40 year-old MEN: 167.
Average annual number of deaths from alcohol overdose poisoning during the 1990s among persons ages :
15-24: 15.
25-34: 38.
35-44: 58.
45-54: 42.
over 55: 32.
Percentage of all regular drinkers who are under age 20: 9%
Percentage of drunken driving deaths: 9%.
Percentage of public drunkenness arrests: 9%
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2. MURDER, CRIME, AND GUNS
MURDER
Change in juvenile homicide arrest rate (per 100,000 youths ages 10-17) over last generation (2000 compared to early 1970s): DOWN 46%.
Change among children younger than 13: DOWN 47%.
Change among adults 30-49: DOWN 70%
Change in number of murder arrests per 100,000 juveniles by race/ethnicity in the 4 states which keep statistics (CA, NY, PA, OK), from lowest year (1984) to highest (1991):
Black, UP 37.8
Hispanic, UP 21.1
Asian, UP 7.8
White, UP 0.9
Change from 1991 to 1999:
Black, DOWN 44.1
Hispanic, DOWN 21.9
Asian, DOWN 7.4
White, DOWN 1.9
Annual murder arrest rate among gradeschool children (per 1 million ages 6-12) in the:
1960s: 2.0
1970s: 2.6
1980s: 1.6
1990s: 1.7
In 2000: 1.4
Number of:
Juveniles (under 18) murdered by other juveniles in 2000: 117
Number of juveniles murdered by adults: 589
Number of adults murdered by juveniles: 256
Number of kids murdered at or around school in the last three years: 47.
Number of kids murdered at home: 3,000.
Odds that a school-aged youth will be murdered by parents at home versus being murdered by a peer at school: 15 to 1.
Odds that a parent will murder their teenage child vs the other way around: 6 to 1.
Number of youths murdered in school shootings since May 1, 1999: 7.
Number of kids killed in mass shootings by middle-aged adults: at least 22.
Number of students murdered at school in the last three years in the “school shootings” featured in headlines and repeated news stories and cited by President Clinton: 25.
Number who were white: 23.
Number of students murdered at school in the same period who received virtually no media or political attention: 32.
Number who were not white: 29.
Mathematical odds that this could be a coincidence: less than 1 in 100,000.
Percent of high school seniors reporting to the annual Monitoring the Future survey that they were injured by an assailant with a weapon at school,
In 1976 (first survey): 5.4%.
In 1986: 5.1%.
In 1996: 4.9%
In 2000 (most recent): 3.2%.
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WHO’S REALLY DRIVING CRIME TRENDS?
Change in juvenile violent crime arrest rate (per 100,000 youths ages 10-17) over last generation (2000 compared to 1970-74): UP 21%.
Change among children younger than 13: UP 11%
Change among adults ages 30-49: UP 56%.
Change in teenage “index” (serious felony) arrest rate: DOWN 19%
Change among children: DOWN 38%.
Change among adults 30-49: UP 74%.
Percent of all murders in US which were committed by juveniles in 2000: 5.3%
Percent of all violent crimes: 12.2%
Of all property crimes: 22.1%
Percent of all crimes attributed by the FBI to juveniles versus percent of all persons arrested for those crimes who are juveniles in 2000, for:
Homicide: 5.3% of offenses, 9.3% of arrests
Rape: 12.1% of offenses, 16.4% of arrests
Robbery: 15.5% of offenses, 25.3% of arrests
Aggravated assault: 11.7% of offenses, 13.9% of arrests
Property crime: 22.1% of offenses, 32.0% of arrests.
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WHO’S DOING ALL THE SHOOTING?
Average number of gun fatalities 1990-98, US, per year: 35,800.
Number involving persons under age 20, per year: 5,000.
Number involving accidental shootings of children under age 10: 60.
Average number of gun fatalities, US, in most recent year (1998): 30,407.
Number involving persons under age 20, per year: 3,752.
Number involving accidental shootings of children under age 10: 53.
Age group most likely to die by gunfire:
For whites: the elderly
For blacks, Hispanics, Asians: young adults.
Gun death rate in major states, 1980 through 1998, per 100,000 youths ages 0-19:
Among white youth in the richest state for whites (Massachusetts): 1.1.
In the poorest state for whites (Louisiana): 12.3.
Among black youth in the richest state for blacks (New Jersey): 21.7
In the poorest state for blacks (Minnesota): 55.1.
Percentage of all 1998 gun deaths that involved persons under age 20 in the ten states rated by the Children’s Defense Fund as having the “best” laws to protect children from guns: 14.4%.
Percentage in the states rated as “worst”: 11.2%.
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3. SEX & THE CALIFORNIA TEEN (AND ADULT)
Number of junior high-age girls (15 and younger) who gave birth in 2000: 895
Fathers were junior high-age boys (15 and younger): <100
Fathers were senior high-age boys (16-18): 300
Fathers were post high school men (19 and older): 500
Poverty and birth rate among California teenagers (per 100,000 age 15-19):
In the richest major county for White teens (Marin, 4% in poverty): 9
In the poorest for whites (Kern, 13%): 79
In the richest major county for blacks (Santa Cruz, 20%): 23
In the poorest (Tulare, 41%): 195.
In the richest major county for Hispanics (Marin, 15%): 70.
In the poorest (Fresno, 39%): 137.
In the richest major county for Asians (San Luis Obispo, 4%): 12.
In the poorest (Fresno, 56%): 142.
Among teens in Canada (9% in poverty): 20
Among teens in Sweden (3% in poverty): 12
Age group with lowest per-capita increase in HIV/AIDS infection rates in last decade (as measured by new HIV/AIDS diagnoses during 20s): teens age 13-19
Age group with most rapid increase: 30-49.
The “leading edge” of the AIDS epidemic (assuming a 5-year average time lag from infection to diagnosis) as measured by new HIV infection numbers and rates per 100,000 population in 2000:
Infected as teens (diagnosed at age 13-24): 5.8 (2,692 new cases)
Infected as 20-agers (diagnosed at age 25-34): 13.5 (5,032)
Infected as 30-agers (diagnosed at age 35-44): 10.0 (4,930)
Infected as 40-agers (diagnosed at age 45-54): 5.3. (1,983)
Percent of all HIV infectees from heterosexual intercourse which are females:
Teens: 90%.
Adults: 65%.
Percent of total new HIV cases teenagers account for, according to the National Office on AIDS Policy: 25%.
Actual new cases teens account for, according to the most recent Center for Disease Control tabulation, 2000: 14%.
Change in HIV infection rates, 2000 vs 1995:
Age 13-24, DOWN 7%
25-34, UP 3%
35-44, UP 44%
45-54, UP 73%
Fastest-growing population for HIV infection, as claimed by the National Office on AIDS Policy: teens and young adults
Fastest-growing population for HIV infection in reality, as shown in the most recent CDC reports: adults ages 30-59.
Male population showing riskiest sexual behaviors, according to the June 2000 CDC study: ages 30-49.
Age change in HIV infectees in recent years, according to National Office on AIDS policy and Tipper Gore: “GETTING YOUNGER.”
Age change in HIV infectees in recent years, according to CDC reports: GETTING OLDER -- (31.7 in 1990, 32.2 in 1995, 32.5 in 1999, 33.0 new 2000 diagnoses).
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4. ECONOMICS, JOBS, SCHOOLS -- DISOWNING THE FUTURE
Percent of persons under age 18 in poverty, 1960: 27%
Percent, 1970: 15%
Percent, 1980: 18%
Percent, 2000: 16%
Percent of children and youths (under age 18) in low-income families (under twice poverty income), 2000: 37%.
Percent in severe poverty (less than half poverty income): 7%
Median income (in constant, inflation-adjusted, 2000 dollars) and change in income, families headed by persons:
Age 18-24 in 1950: $15,924
In 1970: $27,189 (UP 71%)
In 2000: $26,508 (DOWN 3%).
Age 25-44 in 1950: $21,381
In 1970: $41,104 (UP 92%)
In 2000: $53,106 (UP 29%).
Age 45-64 in 1950: $21,329
In 1970: $43,916 (UP 106%)
In 2000: $63,468 (UP 45%)
Age 65+ in 1950: $11,597
In 1970: $19,523 (UP 68%)
In 1999: $32,854 (UP 68%).
Income gap between generations (earnings among age 45-64 versus 18-24):
In 1950: +34%
In 1970: +62%
In 2000: +139%
Juveniles, percent in poverty and murder arrest rates (reporting states) in 1999:
Black: 30.9%, 16.8 per 100,000
Hispanic: 28.0%, 8.2
Asian: 15.7%, 3.8
White: 9.4%, 1.1
Canadian: 10%, 1.5
Percentage of youths who graduated from high school
In 1960: 69.5
In 1970: 76.7
In 1980: 71.3
In 2000: 70.6
Average ACT test score and percent of students taking test:
1970: 20.6, 19% took test
1980: 20.5, 20% took test
2000: 21.0, 38% took test
Average undergraduate tuition costs, public 2-year and 4-year universities, in constant (inflation adjusted) 1999 dollars:
In 1965: 2-year $591; 4-year, $1,773
In 1980: $781, $1,827
In 1999: $1,328, $3,644
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5. THE “CULTURE WARS” -- TRUTH IS THE FIRST CASUALTY
Video games, music, and murder
1990, number of teenaged boys who played violent interactive video games: 0.
Number of rap music (including “gangsta”) albums sold, 1990: 74 million.
Number of teenage boys arrested for murder in 1990: 6,600.
2000, number of teenage boys who played violent video games: 5 million.
Number of rap/gangsta albums sold: 125 million.
Number of teenage boys arrested for murder: 3,250.
Rate of non-Hispanic white teenagers arrested for murder (reporting states) in 1990: 3.1 per 100,000.
Rate in 1999: 1.2 per 100,000.
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CAMELS, CIGARETTE ADS, SMOKING -- EVERYBODY’S WRONG
Percentage of 12-17 year-olds who smoked cigarettes in the previous month in the last National Household Survey before RJR Reynolds introduced the “Joe Camel” advertising icon in 1988: 15%.
Percent in the first survey following Joe Camel’s introduction (1990): 12%.
Percent in next three surveys (1991, 1992, 1993): 12%, 11%, 10%.
Percent of high school seniors who reported smoking at least once a month in 1987, before Joe Camel was introduced: 29.4%.
Percent in 1989: 28.6%
Percent in next three surveys (1990, 1991, 1992): 29.4%, 28.3%, 27.8%.
Change in smoking by 12-13 year-olds after Joe Camel was introduced (1988-90): DOWN 33%.
Change in spending (constant 1996 dollars) by cigarette companies on advertising and promotion, 1975 to 1992: UP 308%
Change in teenage smoking initation rates, 1975-92: DOWN 8%.
Change in cigarette ad and promotion spending, 1992-97: DOWN 14%.
Change in teen smoking initiation: UP 27%.
Percent of high school seniors smoking half a pack-plus per day in 1970s: 18.4%
Percent in 1987: 11.4%
Percent in 1992: 10.0%
Percent in 2000: 11.3%
Average age teens began smoking in the 1970s: 15.5.
Average in 1990s: 15.7
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FROGS, 40s, BOOZE ADS -- DITTO
1988, percent of 12-17 year-olds who drank at least once a month: 33%
Percent of 12-17 year-olds who drank five or more drinks in a row: 15%
Number and percent of fatal traffic accidents among drivers under age 20 that involved drinking, 1988: 5,479, 52%.
Introduction of malt liquor, Budweiser bullfrog, wine cooler, and other intensive alcohol marketing campaigns: late 1980s, early 1990s.
2000, percent of 12-17 year-olds who drank at least once a month: 16.4%
Percent of 12-17 year-olds who drank five or more drinks in a row: 10.4%.
Number and percent of fatal traffic accidents among drivers under age 20 that involved drinking, 2000: 2,845, 32%.
1998, Percent of white students who drank at least once a month: 21%
Percent of black students: 13%
Percent of Hispanic students: 19%.
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WHO ARE THE REAL VIDEOTS?
Number of hours per week 12-17 year-olds watched TV in 1980: 22.8 hours.
Number of hours in 2000: 19.4.
Number of hours per week adults 25 watched TV in 1980: 30.3
Number of hours in 2000: 31.0